Commission backs rezoning and RP master‑plan amendment for Meadow Ridge despite neighbor objections

The City of Cedar Falls Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 8 recommended approval of two connected items for the Meadow Ridge development: rezoning 2.68 acres from A‑1 Agriculture to RP Planned Residence (RZ24‑3) and an amendment to the RP master plan (MP24‑004X). The votes sent both recommendations to City Council for final action; the master‑plan amendment was approved by a divided vote.

Planning staff said the applicant revised the RP master plan after earlier hearings, reducing the project from 207 units to 186 units (a 10 percent reduction) and removing a 21‑unit building and associated parking to reduce impervious surface and wetland impacts. Tom, the presenting planner, said the change reduces the wetland area impacted from about 1.87 acres to about 1.05 acres and will return roughly 71 percent of that acreage (about 7.5 acres) to open space for stormwater quality and green space.

Developer representative Packer Morley said the firm has owned the site for about 20 years and worked with staff to respond to concerns about density, wetlands, impervious surfaces and screening. "We tried to kill two birds with one stone there and removing density where it was sitting on wetlands, which would allow us to remove parking," Morley said.

Neighbors and attorneys for residents repeatedly objected to the remaining concentration of multi‑family buildings along the development’s west edge bordering Winding Ridge Estates. Attorney Corey Lorenzen, representing homeowners, said the revised plan did not deliver the transition the city’s comprehensive plan envisions and urged the commission to reject the plan. "I am asking again for the commission to reject the plans and ask for plans to come back that have more of a transition," Lorenzen said, citing a comprehensive plan table that lists typical medium‑density maximums of 4 to 12 units per acre and calls for transitions between single‑family and medium‑density uses.

Other public commenters cited traffic and pedestrian safety on West First Street, potential loss of wetlands and the perceived lack of direct neighborhood outreach. Several residents asked for larger physical buffers, taller/denser screening plantings, or different housing types (twin homes or townhouses) on the parcels nearest the single‑family lots.

Staff and the developer said several conditions must be met before City Council will consider final rezoning: a subdivision plat to combine the RP‑zoned areas, an access easement and agreement for the extension of Lake Ridge Drive, and a development procedures agreement that will include terms for constructing Lake Ridge Drive and any special development area (SDA) provisions. The developer and staff said they propose an SDA to reduce parking requirements (to about 1.25 spaces per one‑bedroom unit and no reduction for two‑ and three‑bedrooms) in exchange for preserved open space and fewer paved areas; staff’s proposal estimated eliminating about 68 parking spaces under the SDA.

Commissioners debated tradeoffs between preserving wetlands and the perceived intensity of units facing Winding Ridge. The rezoning motion passed on a roll call vote with Commissioners Alberhasky, Grubovich, Hartley, Henderson, Johnson, Moser, Sorensen, Stahlmaker and Watkins voting aye. The master plan amendment with an SDA was approved on a divided roll call (Alberhasky, Hartley, Johnson, Moser, Sorensen, Stahlmaker voted aye; Grubovich, Henderson and Watkins voted nay) and will go to City Council with staff‑recommended technical conditions and the SDA recommendation.